Appia is the world’s largest open app marketplace and white label storefront platform, supporting all operating systems and handsets.  Today, Appia powers app storefronts for more than 40 partners reaching more than 200 million mobile subscribers in 200 countries and counting. Customers include four of the world’s top five handset manufacturers, three of the top four mobile operators in the US, and three of the top ten mobile operators globally, including Samsung, Opera, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless.  The Appia Developer Program provides partners with a ready-to-launch catalog of over 140,000 paid and free apps from more than 30,000 global application developers.  Appia is headquartered in Durham, NC with offices in Dallas, TX and Munich, Germany.

In June 2008, serial entrepreneur, Jud Bowman, led the acquisition of Appia (formerly PocketGear) from Motricity (Nasdaq: MOTR), a company he co-founded. Bowman had spent nine years at Motricity growing the company to more than $100 million in annual revenues and 500 employees globally, but realized that something was missing as the company began moving its headquarters to Seattle, Washington. Says Bowman, "Every entrepreneur likes to create and solve new problems. The most fun comes in the beginning when you are trying to grow that new venture into a successful company. So, when the opportunity arose, I took it."

Bowman knew that he wanted North Carolina to be the home of his second entrepreneurial adventure.   Adds Bowman, "We have a great base of engineering talent and the cost of living is an added benefit.  We are also not competing with the Facebooks and Googles of the world for that great talent which makes retention great."


CED Connection
Bowman has been involved with CED since 1999 when he co-founded his first company, Pinpoint.  According to Bowman, CED had a direct impact on the success of that company, "After running out of capital during the dot.com bubble burst in 2001, we were invited to present at CED's Venture Conference. That presentation directly resulted in a meeting with investors that led to a $14 million second round of funding which truly saved my company."

In addition, Bowman leverages CED functions to meet with other entrepreneurs in the area to exchange stories, resources and other information.


Key Factors to Success
Bowman attributes much of Appia's success to having a performance-based culture.  Employees from him down have six quarterly goals that if met, earn them a bonus.  According to Bowman, "These goals keep everyone focused with a clear mission and every goal is something that each employee has specific control over."

As a result, the company has grown 30 fold over last year – a true testament to its leadership.